Most Read

PETER BRUCE: Ramaphosa must act or we slide into a debt disaster

'By 2021 just the interest we will pay on that debt will average more than R850-million per working day'

BL PREMIUM

11 July 2018 - 06:18
Peter Bruce

EXTRACT

One short-term measure that might be assembled before the public is that the Reserve Bank could raise domestic interest rates to encourage some buying of the rand and, thus, its strengthening. But in the face of a VAT increase, debt ratings downgrades and Eskom seeking steep rises in electricity tariffs, a rise in interest rates would hurt the very people Mabe is supposed to speak for.

That leaves only one other route - sensible domestic policies that, even in the face of external events, can serve as a floor from which to build viable defences of our own.

BL Premium

This article is reserved for our subscribers.

A subscription helps you enjoy the best of our business content every day along with benefits such as exclusive Financial Times articles, Morningstar financial data, and digital access to the Sunday Times and Times Select.